Early Autism Diagnosis

EEG scans could help diagnose autism in young infants, long before clinical evaluations are possible, suggests a study in Scientific Reports. The infants (89 who were in a high-risk group because they had a sibling with autism, along with 99 low-risk controls) had EEG measurements taken at least twice between ages 3 months and 36 months. The babies sat still in their mothers’ laps wearing electrode caps while experimenters blew bubbles to distract them. By analyzing patterns of six frequencies of the EEG waves, the researchers were able to predict with high accuracy by age 9 months which babies would eventually receive a clinical diagnosis of autism. (Monitor on Psychology)